Lists and laundry
I’m not a list kind of woman. Lists horrify me as they have a tendency to go on and on. Some mornings Danny sits down at the kitchen table and makes a list. By the time dusk has fallen several things on his list have been crossed off. Impressive. I decided to do the same once. Danny was very enthusiastic. I added a handful of jobs that I had already done. I didn’t wait until dusk just crossed them off at lunchtime. He was stunned until he twigged that I hadn’t shifted from my chair. In the past I’ve bought diaries and notebooks in a...
read moreHow to make your own tasty home cured bacon without a smoker
It’s often said that some of the best discoveries are made by mistake. This discovery was made through laziness. We have stuck rigidly to our low salt bacon cure for over a year now. When Tessa of chiminea fame came back from a trip to Cornwall she brought news. “We discovered some home cured molasses bacon in a small family butcher’s shop. The bacon was much darker than ours. It was so delicious that we’re going to add more molasses to our recipe.” So I added two more heaped teaspoons of molasses to our cure. We usually smoke the...
read moreSecret ingredients: Pickled Walnuts Grand Challenge 2010
Although I left Magic Cochin’s house in January clutching the trophy silver pickle fork, they were just being kind. The Cochinery had produced wonderful pickled walnuts. The vintage 2005 were to die for and all smugness ceased as I divd into the 2008 Cochinery jar. My pickled walnuts didn’t even reach the starting stalls. “So why have I been awarded the trophy fork?” “The trophy fork holder hosts next year’s event.” Admittedly this was our first year of making pickled walnuts but I reckoned that I was in with a chance. I‘d...
read moreHappy anniversary! Cottage Smallholder is three years old today
It was a cold and wet day in August when I started this blog. Danny set up the software and I hovered in the background impatient to make a start. By the time everything was ready to go I looked at the default message on the first Classic WordPress screen. Two simple words stared out at me. “Hello world.” All enthusiasm was punctured with a phut. “Well what are you going to write?” “I certainly wouldn’t have started like that.” In fact I hadn’t actually thought about what to write about. I glanced around the kitchen and...
read moreExplosion of ladybirds
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that were hundreds of ladybirds (ladybugs) in our garden. I was delighted, assuming that finally we had got something right and that these little bugs were happily breeding in our garden. Years ago I did look into buying ladybirds for our garden. They were expensive at £14.95 for twenty five adults. Apart from eating green and black fly, ladybirds also devour scale insects, mould and a whole host of nasties. No need for chemicals, the perfect answer to controlling pests organically. I counted over a hundred on...
read moreFighting the dreaded blight
It’s that tomato blight time of year again. I put on my strongest spectacles and carefully examine all my tomato plants morning and evening. This can take some time as we are growing over forty plants in the green house and various corners of the garden. If ignored the blight will spread rapidly, given the right conditions. But if you have time on your hands and are diligent it is possible to keep blight at bay if it’s discovered in the early stages. The greenhouse plants have suffered more than the outdoor ones this year. Mainly my fault...
read moreBest recipes for leftovers: duck breast risotto with summer vegetables recipe
I reckon that the best risottos contain a range of textures as well as combination of flavours, This risotto hits the mark on both fronts. We scoffed the lot – even I had seconds. But this could easily feed four, with a starter and a crisp green salad. As it only uses one duck breast this recipe is both economical and tastes divine. At one stage this summer we had four ducks in the freezer. All free range and bought for a song as they were nearing their sell by date. Danny makes a wonderful roast duck stuffed with plums. If we cook this for...
read moreStill laid up but I’ve been bottling foraged fruit
I’m getting to the end of my third week being in bed. Finally last week my doctor discovered that I have a problem with my kidneys. I was beginning to wonder whether I’d just fade away like one of Dicken’s heroines. So now we are waiting for more test results. Meanwhile I languish in the big spare room bed feeling lousy. I get up for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I’ve been out on two mini foraging trips to harvest wild plums and have bottled (canned) six kilos to eat in the winter months. I’ve also been harvesting the chubby...
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